While some details are stylized, scientists believe this was an effort by ancient artists to distinguish migratory birds from local ones.
Archaeologists discovered the painting about a century ago, while it still adorned the walls of a palace in the Amarna archaeological site – an area that was once the capital of ancient Egypt during the 18th Dynasty, located 300 kilometers south of present-day Cairo. Previous studies have explored the “identity” of the depicted animals, but the newly published research marks the first time scientists have identified the birds illustrated in the painting.
Most of the birds in the artwork are rock doves (scientific name: Columba livia), but scientists also recognized a pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis), a red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio), and a white wagtail (Motacilla alba).
In the image, birds (a) and (b) are both rock doves – (Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art).
The research team studied a reproduction of the famous painting while utilizing ornithological studies and species classification to accurately identify the birds depicted. Their findings were published in the journal Antiquity on December 15.
The room depicted in the painting has been named by archaeologists “The Green Room”, featuring a landscape that includes a pond filled with water lilies, bordered by bulrushes, with numerous birds perched amidst the tranquil scenery. According to the researchers, the realistic depiction in the painting would help royal family members relax, similar to how modern individuals hang landscape paintings in their homes.
The team of scientists also suggests that the room likely contained perfumed water and live music to enhance the “revitalizing” atmosphere of the painted room.
The Famous Green Room
Between 1353 and 1336 BC, Pharaoh Akhenaten (father of King Tutankhamun) ruled Egypt. He transformed the country’s religion by ordering worship activities to focus around the sun god Aten. He also commanded the construction of the capital Akhetaten (now the Amarna region) and built a palace for the royal family.
This area was forgotten over time until the Egyptian Exploration Society excavated the palace between 1923 and 1925. By then, the wall paintings in the Green Room had nearly faded due to the passage of time and harsh climate. Egyptologist Nina de Garis Davies painstakingly documented what remained on the walls.
To date, all that remains are the reproductions painted by Nina de Garis Davies, as the original artwork is no longer extant.
The two individuals (g) and (h) are the red-backed shrike and the white wagtail respectively – (Photo: Lehava Kiryat Shmona Pikiwiki Israel).
“The only way to preserve the paintings was to bury the entire room under sand once more,” said Professor Barry Kemp from the University of Cambridge. “Archaeologists at that time chose not to do this for fear that local residents would damage them, but it seems their fears were unfounded.”
In 1926, efforts to restore the painting backfired, causing the ancient masterpiece to fade to the point of irreparability. Modern researchers have had to rely on the reproductions made by de Garis Davies to identify the birds depicted in the painting.
The two identified species, rock doves and pied kingfishers, are found year-round in Egypt; however, some birds in the painting are migratory. In their scientific report, the researchers specify that “the red-backed shrike typically migrates to Egypt in the fall, between August and November,” while the white wagtail “generally migrates [to Egypt] from October to April.”
The wall masterpiece depicts a number of rock doves, although they do not usually appear around marshy areas, preferring to nest on bare cliffs. According to experts, the ancient artists may have added them to make the painting more vibrant.
Moreover, the Egyptian artists also embellished the details for the white wagtail and red-backed shrike—adding triangular tails that are not present on these birds. It is believed that the ancient artists had specific intentions, perhaps to indicate that these birds came from elsewhere.
Regardless, the ancient Egyptian artists created a painting that nearly accurately represents the birds and vegetation present in ancient Egypt. “I believe the paintings in the Green Room are truly outstanding even when compared to ancient Egyptian art, and they exemplify how well [the artists] observed the natural world,” said Christopher Stimpson, an honorary professor at the University of Oxford.
